Badger Coulee Transmission Line Project gets CORE support

The August Prairie neighborhood is relatively new to the town of Holland. Brian Meeter built his home there in 2008, and back then, he never imagined he'd trade in his view of a blossoming community for a front-row seat to a bunch of power lines.

"When they proposed this my heart sank a little bit, because I realized they're gonna be proposing to put 120, 150-foot power lines right through our neighborhood," Meeter said.

ATC spokesperson Anne Saltholz said the project will bring an economic boost to the region, along with more a more reliable energy grid.

The project's already gaining steam with a new endorsement from a major energy coalition. The Coalition Organized for Reliable Energy, known as CORE, announced its support for the Badger Coulee project in a letter Tuesday.

"It's very important to have that kind of support for a project of this size," said Saltholz. "Having that kind of third party support for a reliable transmission grid is important in advancing the project through the regulatory phase."

The state's Public Service Commission will review the project for at least another year before signing off on it, but local residents aren't waiting around to voice their opposition.

"There's a need where we need to step up and say enough's enough, we don't want it to ruin our community and make it a place where people don't want to move," Meeter said.

He's worried about the effect these massive power lines could have on his community. According to him, the lines could decrease property values by 15 percent. Meeter is convinced it's already scaring away families who would otherwise build in the area.

"Every time they pull in their driveway, play in the yard with their kids, they're going to have these big lines hanging just almost directly over the top of them," he said.

According to Saltholz, ATC and Excel Energy have been working with local communities to get their feedback on the project for the last three years.